Tag: artists

In 2016 (a while back now!) I made a post sharing some of what is on my Etsy ‘favourites’ list or wishlist in general and I really enjoyed making it and sharing some of my favourite artists off the website because I love bringing attention to artists and some of the amazing things they create! Lately due to University and other scenarios I haven’t been able to save up much money or treat myself to stuff off Etsy but hopefully in the future I’ll be able to splurge and make some purchases towards independent businesses and I definitely encourage other people do as well!

Purchasing from independent businesses can be pricier sometimes and I understand not everybody can ‘treat themselves’ over a certain budget but I definitely encourage browsing and following these creators because they put so much time and effort and love into their creations and definitely deserve recognition and reward for what they do! So here is a quick, illustrated wishlist along with links to each shop/creator and the product themselves!

The first creator is ‘andsmile’ who is based in London, England and creates gorgeous illustrations as prints to sell. I originally came across the ‘Be Kind to Yourself’ print on my Etsy recommended and fell in love with her style and would love to get one of her prints for my bedroom one day or I could totally picture one in my future dream study.

The next store on my wishlist is a creator I’ve been really lucky to have purchased a t-shirt from them earlier this year. I already own LiteraryEmporium’s Pride and Prejudice quote t-shirt but I’d absolutely adore some more of their quote apparel, also I adore their jewellery ranges because I think how they are gifted with the quotes they are inspired by is a really lovely touch.

My last pick for this post definitely has to be the glorious artist Em and her etsy store which is filled with gorgeous positive art that promotes self-love, self-care and loving the environment. I absolutely adore the ‘Made it Through’ print because it’s the kind of reminder I need myself sometimes and I think her style is absolutely gorgeous. Her badges collection is also really adorable and affordable!

Feel free to share some of your favourite creators from Etsy or even Instagram, Society6 and other freelancers! I definitely recommend checking out these three shops and their social media and supporting what they do because there is some incredible talent right there!

As much as my parents hate it, I think tattoos are so cool. They are literally pieces of art you can get inscribed to your body which can fill you with confidence and remind you of stuff that keeps you happy and even remind you of things very close to your heart. Obviously, especially after getting my first tattoo, I do know of a lot more people who aren’t a fan and that’s fair enough. But I can assure everyone who tells me I’m going to regret my tattoos and want them removed one day (yes I’m looking at you parents), I don’t think that’s going to be the case and I’m very self-assured in that. Growing up as a female, I’m surrounded by stupid media trying to push the idea my body will not be good enough no matter what, and unfortunately a lot of the time it does succeed in that peer pressure. I’ve always loved art since I was young and growing up I can see the beauty and talent in a lot of tattoo artist’s work so obviously I was very drawn to getting a tattoo the past year and a bit cause I found so many amazing artists on Instagram. Some of my favourite artists that I follow on Instagram include the artists who did my lovely pieces; Hannah(@hfvtattoo) and Bekki(@bekki.lana.tattoo) – as well as other artists @alexrowntreetattoo, @laurenharpertattoo, @chelsietattoo, @tkennedyuk, @lydiatattoos, @kiki_tattoos, @hugotattooer, @warahshitehouse etc., the list goes on and I’ll probably find even more amazing artists in the future! I recommend you all check them out!

So far the tattoos I have is a beautiful My Neighbour Totoro piece on my right thigh by Hannah (@hfvtattoo, also can be found through Bravest Kids Tattoo facebook page). I got it in January of this year as my first ever tattoo and although it was way more painful than I expected – I bloody love it. I get so many compliments on it whenever people see it and it makes me feel really happy with my upper legs, considering a lot of the time I despise the size of them.

My Tattoo about 10 hours after it was done!Recent image of my tattoo! (Excuse rubbish quality)

So my next tattoo is very recent, in fact so recent I still haven’t got it completed! I plan to go back and visit Bekki, (she’s a lovely, talented apprentice who works at Flesh Tattoo in Manchester) and get the dotwork shading completely finished! Admittedly, I must have been hell in the form of a client for Bekki, bless her patience, since I got it on the back of my left calf but my leg wouldn’t stop involuntarily twitching! It got so bad that, to make sure she could get the detail on the cat’s eyes done well, my boyfriend had to hold my leg down so it wouldn’t kick off. I was so embarassed! However so far, Bekki has done an amazing job on it – it’s a dotwork piece of my cat’s face! His name is Cozmo and he’s my first proper pet and I love him so much, so I decided to get his face tattooed on my leg. I’ve always wanted to get a small tattoo dedicated to my cat so this was very much a planned design. I can’t wait to get it finished.

So of course, like most people who get tattoos, there’s a certain want to get more after getting some. I have one or two more tattoos planned and I’m not sure where or when I want to get them but I have basic ideas in my head of stuff I’d quite like. I’ve always loved the idea of more tattoos on my legs to help my confidence with my legs, but I’d also maybe like one on my inner arm! My older sisters both have recently gotten tattoos in dedication to my parents and I’d love to have one as well. I’m not entirely sure what design but that’ll probably be my next tattoo! I also want to get a nice bumblebee tattoo because it’d have quite a lot of meaning to me. Manchester uses a bee as a symbol called the Worker Bee. It was adopted as a motif in the Industrial Revolution and is meant to represent Manchester’s hard work during the era, now in my hometown you can find the Manchester Worker Bee illustrated on lampposts, bins; you can even get Manchester merchandise/souvenirs with it on. As well as it being a motif to my hometown, obviously bees are special to me because of my blog name! The bee tattoo would remind me of a turn in my life where I got the confidence to start writing and develop my blog. It also represents my change of attitude to my life ambitions, as during this time when I started my blog I decided to apply for University and write a lot more about my views. I think if it wasn’t for my blog a lot of things in my life would not have happened and I never regret making it.

So what tattoos do you guys have or want? Any favourite tattoo artists?

Fun fact when I was growing up I had some bizarre ‘dream jobs’; I wanted to be an ice cream van driver at one point and would spend hours scribbling designs of ‘ice creams’ and ‘lollies’ I would sell. Then at some points I wanted to work with animals, either being a zookeeper or a vet. Other jobs I have been interested in growing up include being a writer, artist, graphic novel artist, video game artist, actress, visual merchandiser – and that’s in no particular order! My mind changes very easily and I’m constantly bewildered by how much choice one person can have. I can understand the whole butterfly effect theory where you can basically have tons and tons of lines of ‘opportunities’ or ‘future scenarios’ but only certain ones happen if you do certain things, basically that everything happens for a reason. It makes me scared and excited at the same time. I want to experience as much as possible but make sure I don’t waste my choices on bad decisions or experiences and waste time.

My current dream job at the moment, I don’t think I could really pick one thing. I want to do something that involves the English/Creative Writing degree I will study in the future, something that’ll involve writing itself – maybe blogging and journalism. But as I have mentioned in a previous blog post, I do also miss the illustration/art side of things. I realised recently whilst having a stroll around Waterstones with my sister, a job that I’d probably love that includes both creative writing and illustration and that is – children’s books! Maybe one day I could write books and illustrate them and build up a portfolio based on it. I found a lot of inspiration in Waterstones and thought I’d share the inspirations I found that make me want to pursue this idea.

Pass it On by Sophy Henn’s book cover made me grin as soon as I saw it. There’s something minimalist but eye-catching about it which makes me really interested by it. I love how the balloons and font pop out against the grey background, it makes me wonder if that’s what the story will be about? Acts of kindness and happiness that bring colour into a grey day. The way Sophy’s drawn the characters is really cute too!! I love the left hand character’s bright little red hat. Sophy has also written and illustrated a book called ‘Pom Pom gets the grumps’ which looks absolutely precious! Her illustration is so colourful and she makes the colours contrast well so it is soothing on the eyes.

Also something about her typography choice in both of these pieces is really interesting. I like the cursive, round writing she uses for her signature and in the lower writing on the heading.

So after being very inspired by illustrator/writers like Sophy Henn I think I’m going to try and do more illustration pieces based on maybe book covers or ideas I have. I recently got some new watercolours for my birthday so I think they will definitely come in handy!

How is everyone else’s life lately? What jobs did you dream of doing whilst growing up?

Feel free to comment!

Credit for illustration in image is Sophy Henn’s pieces in her book Where Bear?

If you didn’t happen to know what I studied in college, it was Art and Design. I’ve always had an on and off, complicated relationship with art. I love it, I love studying it and looking at it and creating it can be extremely therapeutic but some days doing art just frustrates me and can rough up my confidence with it. I struggle with making art I’m happy with and I always feel like if I had better tools (brushes, watercolours, pens etc) for it, I’d maybe be more motivated, however I do not have the money for that.

I am choosing to study English/Creative Writing in University because I do long to improve my writing skills and study it a lot more. I’d love a job in the future based around/influenced by my degree, so that’s why I didn’t choose to go on to do an art degree, however I do miss making art a lot. I look a lot of pieces I did in college and it makes me miss sitting down and putting time into a project and liking the outcome. For example, a lighthouse painting piece I did on canvas in my first year of college always makes me long to do a canvas painting again, however I do not have the patience or concentration in my free time. It’s such a shame.

As well as painting, illustration is one of the loves of my life. I get so envious and overwhelmed stalking the instagrams and portfolios of really talented illustrators. Some artists can make illustrations just so gorgeous and humble that I want to cover my walls in their prints. Therefore, I honestly wish I had their talent, however growing up I have definitely learnt illustration/art skill comes from constant practice and is not just gonna be right there when you touch pencil to paper. I recently followed a beautiful illustrator and lovely girl on Instagram who goes by the username of @AnniePancake! One of her posts talking about facts about herself appeared on my recommendations and honestly her whole style is something I wish I had. She’s been studying at University and says she first thought she couldn’t draw but her art style is just so eye-catching and cute! Her portfolio/store is at http://www.anniedornansmithdesign.co.uk and honestly I recommend everyone check her out because her illustrations are gorgeous! The typography/font she paints on her designs are so pretty too!

So inspired by talent like Annie and a lot of other illustrators I follow on Instagram. I hope in the future to do a lot more illustrations, maybe even some to have on my blog posts to give it a lot more individuality and unique design. Is there any illustrators you love on Instagram that you think I should check out? Tell me!

About the Blogger

Small, buzzing bee living in the big city of Manchester. Love talking about the little things that make me happy, thinking of ways to be kinder to the environment, discovering cute cafes and books, of course.